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306, and the salable offices brought at auction from six to eight thousand pesos. The province had also a lieutenant captain-general, and a force of troops for protection in case of outbreaks among the natives. In wealth and probably in population the city was superior to the capital of Nueva Galicia.

The mining districts of Fresnillo, Sombrerete, Pinos, Nieves, Mazapil, and Zacatecas were all alcaldías mayores, subject to a corregimiento, to which grade, in 1736, the so-called province of Zacatecas was raised, the districts of Aguas Calientes and Juchipila being added three years later. When the alcaldías mayores and corregimientos were abolished by the ordinance establishing intendencias, these latter districts were made a part of the intendencia of Guadalajara, until joined to that of Zacatecas by royal decree of December 30, 1791.

The town of Aguas Calientes derived its name from the thermal springs in its immediate vicinity. In